Roelofs - Roelofs Intro The Great Paradoxes Thesis-...

Roelofs Intro The Great Paradoxes Thesis- American political sys is a two-sided biformity, a national schizophrenia. Americans are determined to help the overall American community, but individually, Americans are self-interested. Five paradoxes- America was founded upon religious belief but doesn’t stand as a religious government; America says everyone is free but stands as a capitalist country; America’s separation of powers is shown in the first three articles of the constitution, but still those separated powers are modified to no longer be separate but equal; America’s presidency is either too strong or too weak but is defined within the people’s response to the present presidential “era”; and the political parties are quite publicly prevelant in America but are they necessary? Ch. 1 – works out definitions in detail. Ch. 2 – details the protestant and bourgeois components of America. Ch.3 – outlines the contradictory ideology of democracy in America. Ch.4 – looks at the argument of three on the institutional level. The rest of the book applies the arguments of the first four chapters to the acing institutions in America and reveals further ambiguities. Fundamentals Chapter 1 Power US- a nation-state and its government commands obedience because stable political culture. The American people generally follow the intellectual and moral goals of the society. Force- pure brute push can be exercised anywhere but power cannot. Power and Force Force needs no cultural context. Uses parent/child/interfering grandparent example. Power relationship demands more than one person acting in the relationship, and understanding those relationships require understanding beyond physical appearances but also the concepts being enacted. The definitions of the roles of the relationships are key, where very simple “political” situations are actually very complex. Uses the example of police to reveal the monologue behind force and the necessary dialogue of persuasion of power, where power can only be exercised after such dialogue is favorably resolved. Force is quantitative where power is qualitative and was decided in America those incidental happenings. ∴ it is not a matter of measuring power but defining various relationships. Governing takes a mutually agreed upon relationship.

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Myth and Ideology Power relationships tend to move toward stability within limits for individuals. America hardly changes, if at all, politically. This idea of myth means the total process legitimizing the power constructs in place and ideology is referring to the total process

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